1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to computerized verification of information provided by a person and more particularly relates the measurement of a person's touch response for the purpose of verification of information provided by the person.
2. Related Art
Current truth verification methods, based on the voice stress analysis which measures emotional stress in speech by detecting the presence of vibratto or rapid modulation of the phonation constituent within the speech signal envelope. Polygraph techniques rely upon the measurement of several physiological characteristics to discriminate whether a truth or a lie is expressed. These measurements include skin resistivity, blood pressure, heart rate and respiration rate. The voice stress analyzer and polygraph measure the emotional reaction of a person to a stimulus.
The Neural Basis of an Emotional Reaction
Theoretical Traditions in Emotion Research:
Theories about emotions stretch back at least as far as the Ancient Greek Stoics, as well as Plato and Aristotle. We also see sophisticated theories in the works of philosophers such as René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza and David Hume. More recent theories of emotions tend to be informed by advances in empirical research. Often theories are not mutually exclusive and many researchers incorporate multiple perspectives in their work.
Somatic Theories of Emotion:
Somatic theories of emotion claim that bodily responses rather than judgments are essential to emotions. The first modern version of such theories comes from William James in the 1880s. The theory lost favor in the 20th Century, but has regained popularity more recently thanks largely to theorists such as Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux and Robert Zajonc who are able to appeal to neurological evidence.
The James-Lange Theory:
William James in the article ‘What is an Emotion?’ (Mind, 9, 1884: 188-205) argued that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. These changes might be visceral, postural, or facially expressive. Danish psychologist Carl Lange also proposed a similar theory at around the same time and thus the resulting position is known as the James-Lange theory. This theory and its derivates state that a changed situation leads to a changed bodily state. As James says ‘the perception of bodily changes as they occur IS the emotion.’ James further claims that ‘we feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and not that we cry, strike, or tremble, because we are sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be.’
This theory is supported by experiments in which by manipulating the bodily state, a desired emotion is induced. Such experiments also have therapeutic implications (e.g. in laughter therapy, dance therapy).
The James-Lange theory is often misunderstood because it seems counter-intuitive. Most people believe that emotions give rise to emotion-specific actions: i.e. “I'm crying because I'm sad,” or “I ran away because I was scared.” The James-Lange theory, conversely, asserts that first we react to a situation (running away and crying happen before the emotion), and then we interpret our actions into an emotional response. In this way, emotions serve to explain and organize our own actions to us.
Cognitive Theories of Emotion:
There are a number of theories of emotions that argue that cognitive activity in the form of judgments, evaluations, or thoughts are necessary in order for an emotion to occur. This, it is argued[who?], is necessary to capture the fact that emotions are about something or have intentionality. Such cognitive activity may be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing. An influential theory here is that of Richard Lazarus (1991). A prominent philosophical exponent is Robert Solomon (e.g. The Passions, Emotions and the Meaning of Life, 1993). The theory proposed by Nico Frijda where appraisal leads to action tendencies is another example.
The Perceptual Theory:
A recent hybrid of the somatic and cognitive theories of emotion is the perceptual theory. This theory is neo-Jamesian in arguing that bodily responses are central to emotions, yet it emphasizes the meaningfulness of emotions or the idea that emotions are about something, as is recognized by cognitive theories. The novel claim of this theory is that conceptually based cognition is unnecessary for such meaning. Rather the bodily changes themselves perceive the meaningful content of the emotion as a result of being causally triggered by certain situations. In this respect emotions are held to be analogous to faculties such as vision or touch, which provide information about the relation between the subject and the world in various ways. A sophisticated defense of this view is found in philosopher Jesse Prinz's book Gut Reactions (2004) and psychologist James Laird's book Feelings: The Perception of Self (2007). Related views are also found in the work of Peter Goldie and Ronald de Sousa.
The Cannon-Bard Theory:
Main Article: Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon argued against the dominance of the James-Lange theory regarding the physiological aspects of emotions in the second edition of Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage. Where James argued that emotional behavior often precedes or defines the emotion, Cannon and Bard argued that the emotion arises first and then stimulates typical behavior.
The Two Factor Theory:
Another cognitive theory is the Singer-Schachter theory. This is based on experiments purportedly showing that subjects can have different emotional reactions despite being placed into the same physiological state with an injection of adrenaline. Subjects were observed to express either anger or amusement depending on whether another person in the situation displayed that emotion. Hence the combination of the appraisal of the situation (cognitive) and whether participants received adrenaline or a placebo together determined the response. This experiment has been criticized in Jesse Prinz (2004) Gut Reactions.
The Component Process Model:
A recent version of the cognitive theory comes from Klaus Scherer which regards emotions more broadly as the synchronization of many different bodily and cognitive components. Emotions are identified with the overall process whereby low level cognitive appraisals, in particular the processing of relevance, trigger bodily reactions, behaviors, feelings, and actions.